The “best” of the VGAs: new Mass Effect 3, Bioshock Infinite trailers, and Tony Hawk HD

While the Video Game Awards may be painful to watch, the actual trailers and …

Spike TV doesn't seem to care about actually honoring video games with awards, as many of the 2011 awards given out at the misleadingly titled Video Game Awards were handed out off-screen or before the show actually began. The broadcast itself was filled with terrible jokes, B-list celebrities, and embarrassing moments. I'm curious to find out if anyone was able to get through it with their sanity intact, and I'm not exactly sure why Charlie Sheen was there at all. At one point, a grown man was tea-bagged for an extended period of time. To pick an even geekier nit, someone else drank a blue potion to restore health. They don't make a face big enough for that palm.

I'm probably being too hard on the show, though, as the crass bits were clearly written by someone who seems to hold games and the people who play them in contempt. The show's real purpose is to market new games, and the new trailers, announcements, and content on display was often exciting. Let's take a look at the best trailers and video from the show.

Mass Effect 3

There's not much to say about this content, but Mass Effect 3 remains one of my most anticipated games.

Bioshock Infinite

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

This game will take place after the events of Metal Gears Solid 4, and while the story will be handled by Hideo Kojima, the game is being developed by Platinum Games. So if you thought Bayonetta was a great game but needed to be moodier, boy, is this good news.

The Last of Us

This is where things get interesting. Naughty Dog has a new game coming exclusively to the PS3, in addition to the wonderful Uncharted series. A few people have groaned about some overused thematic elements here, but if anyone can take something and make it fresh, it's Naughty Dog. I can't wait to learn more.

Fortnite

This is Epic's big announcement, and it's a brand new IP that looks... interesting? Right now we don't have much information to go from, but it's at least a departure for Epic Games.

"There's no dude bros in it," Epic lead Cliff Bleszinski told Joystiq. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, right? But creatively for the team, Gears has been amazing for us. But it's fun to kind of stretch our wings and do something that's a little different from the usual."

Tony Hawk HD

This is great news, and Tony Hawk himself gave it to the press before the show even began. Tony Hawk HD will be a download-only game that mixes the best content from the first and second Tony Hawk titles. This series has seriously lost its way in the past five years, so giving fans a way to revisit the times when it was innovating is welcome news.

So there you go. Let us know what you're excited about the most, and you can check out all these trailers and a few more over at Gametrailers. We look forward to seeing how the Video Game Awards can embarrass the industry next year.